Rose of Tralee host Daithi O Se says he is totally prepared for tomorrow night’s show – and is ready for anything the girls can throw at him.

But he revealed one of the toughest moments in his nine years presenting the hugely popular programme came during the live marriage proposal on stage five years ago.

The affable Kerryman said he was shocked when New Orleans Rose Molly Molloy Gamble kept saying no to boyfriend Kyle Catlett when he got down on one knee.

The 23-year-old university graduate was visibly shaking as she said “no, no, no, no… please don’t” before finally saying yes.

Daithi said: “I’ve had no real embarrassing moments but the night of the proposal and the man went out and proposed live on stage and she was saying ‘no, no, no.’

(Image: Collins)

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“And I was like [mortified]. And then she said yes. I thought, Oh, thanks be to Jesus!

“There was a borderline embarrassing moment for the whole organisation.

“They got married and I was invited to the wedding but I couldn’t go as I was working. They are still married.

“People said, ‘that was a great gimmick’ and I said it wasn’t a gimmick at all. It was genuine.”

The 42-year-old said he was never lost for words on the show because the energy of the crowd kept him going.

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Daithi added: “There are 2,500 people in the audiences and that is all feeding up on stage.

“Every Rose that comes out, their people are shouting for her. There is such an air of positivity. You know these Roses so well.

“People ask me if I get nervous. I get nervous generally in life if I’m unprepared. I’m so prepared going on stage at 8pm on Monday.

“If something goes wrong for me it’s on YouTube. If something goes wrong for a bomb disposal expert it is totally different.

"There are no lives at stake. If you make a booboo they all start laughing and you move on. It’s one person talking to another person.

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“I say to all the Roses, ‘don’t mind the cameras, don’t mind anything, it’s you and I having a chat and you know all the answers. There are no trick questions. We are here to help you.’

“Once they understand that, it’s going to be a bit of fun. You have to enjoy it.”

Daithi, who will celebrate 10 years with the show next year, said he had no plans to quit as he loved it so much.

Meanwhile, the 32 Roses said they were having the time of their lives.

Texas Rose, Kimberly Corser, 22, overcame a rare bone condition called Osteochondroma to be in Ireland.

The economics student said: “I have benign bone tumours throughout my body so basically I have extra bones.

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“A normal human would have 206 bones as an adults and I have about 220. I’ve had a couple removed to help me Irish dance but I still have them all over my body.

“None of them are cancerous thankfully so I am in good health.”

Kimberly lost her father after a 13-year-battle with cancer and her dream was to start a non-profit foundation to help families of cancer patients.

A champion Irish dancer, she was taught by the former 2010 Texas Rose, Adrienne Hussey, who died from a brain haemorrhage in 2012 after moving to Ireland.

Kimberly said: “She was one of my Irish dance teachers growing up so I watched her go through the whole Rose thing and was so enamoured of it all and she was such an amazing person and unfortunately we lost her a few years ago.

"Being here is really, really special to me to continue her legacy. It’s amazing. It’s so unbelievable.”

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Mayo Rose Rachel Gibbons, 24, from Carnacon, had her own battles to get to the Roses final after battling depression and anxiety as a teenager.

She said: “I never had the confidence to enter but this year I said I will give it a go. I have nothing to lose and all I can do is give it a try.

“It has been one of the best experiences of my life so far so I can’t wait.

“I’ve made the best of friends in the girls, like we are all joined at the hip. You can go and chat to every single one of them so it is amazing.”

Rachel encouraged any young person suffering depression to seek help.

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She added” “There is light at the end of the tunnel. Asking for help is one of the hardest things to do but once you get that ball rolling it’s going to get better.

“You always come out the other side if you can ask for help. I got the little bit of help I needed like counselling and thankfully I came out the other side and I’m here now. And if I can get here anyone can.

"You have a good support network so ask for help and get the ball rolling. Once you take that one step it’s always going to be better.”

The Rose of Tralee will be broadcast on RTE One on Monday and Tuesday at 8pm.